Assistant Professor Sheila Santacroce has been awarded grants to advance knowledge of intervention fidelity to promote research integrity and the management of uncertainty in childhood cancer survivorship.
The first (RO1) grant is for a study titled, "Monitoring Fidelity to Promote Research Integrity." Intervention fidelity is the consistent delivery of an intervention by an interventionist according to a research plan and professional standards. Lack of attention to fidelity can lead to false statements about intervention conducts and effects, and undermine research integrity, particularly for behavioral interventions which are notoriously hard to articulate, control and evaluate. The Yale Adherence and Competence Scale (YACS), a general system for monitoring intervention fidelity, has been used in behavioral research in psychiatry to promote research integrity. Although nursing is also concerned with the development and testing of behavioral interventions, there is no evidence that systematic intervention fidelity monitoring is being performed in nursing research. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility and outcomes of applying the YACS in nursing as a means to promote research integrity. This study is funded from 9/30/04 - 9/29/06 by the Office of Research Integrity and the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research.
The second (R21) grant is for a study titled, "Managing Uncertainty in Childhood Cancer Survivorship." Childhood cancer survivors need integrated care to help them manage uncertainty in survivorship. The primary aim of this study is to examine the feasibility and trends in changes on outcomes of an integrated comprehensive care and psychological intervention that targets uncertainty. The study setting will be HEROS, Yale's program for survivors of childhood cancer. This grant is funded from 9/1/04-8/1/06 by the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Santacroce has more than 25 years experience in the nursing care of children with cancer or HIV infection. At Yale, Dr. Santacroce is currently the Coordinator of the Chronic Illness Concentration in the PNP Specialty at YSN and Director of Nursing Education and Research for HERO'S, a comprehensive program of follow-up care at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) for young people successfully treated for childhood cancer. Dr. Santacroce is a member of the Yale Cancer Center, an associate of the Yale Children's Oncology Group site, a member of the Oncology Nursing Council at YNHH, and holds medical staff privileges at YNHH as an Advanced Practice Nurse in pediatric hematology/oncology. Beyond Yale, Dr. Santacroce is currently a member of the International Editorial Board, Journal of Child Health Care, consultant to the Oncology Nursing Society on the Developing APN-Researcher Partnerships, and an Expert Participant, Survivorship and Late Effects, Priority Research Agenda Panel, Oncology Nursing Society.
